SYSTEM FOR MANAGING TELEPHONE MESSAGE TEXTS FOR THE EVALUATION OF CONTESTS

Description

TITLE OF THE INVENTION

[0001] A system for managing telephone text messages for evaluating contests.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The present invention describes a management and evaluation system of mobile telephone text messages which comprises a telephone terminal, a computer and a suitable interface between the previous elements, aimed mainly at the leisure market. The computer has a contestant data base and in turn executes a programme that controls the rules for participating, the format of the message to be sent, the validation key codes for the answers and the prizes or rewards to be shared out.

STATE OF THE ART

[0003] The developments in telecommunications and computing have been useful in a broad range of technological fields, for example in the medical, financial and economic fields, having developed systems that contain interfaces, databases and/or computer programmes.

[0004] Among the documents that make up the state of the art closest to the invention is US Patent 5,596,994 which describes a system in which a user send a series of motivational messages and/or questions to a client in order to introduce a specific behavioural problem. The system consists of a client database, which for each client includes the name, list of calls and a personal identification and a client programme that includes unique motivational messages and/or questions for each client. The database and the programme are operated by a computer which in pre-selected time periods sends signals to a client telephone device by means of a converter and a network, but this system does not use mobile telephone text messages.

[0005] In fact, the system described in the art does not use mobile telephone text messages and up to the present time no management system of mobile telephone text messages aimed at the leisure and entertainment fields has been used.

[0006] One of the priorities of the media, such as television, radio, press and consumer means is to gain clients by means of contests or challenges. A communication medium sets questions or challenges through its medium reaching a broad population sector. Those people who want to take part in the challenge have to send their answer, which has to be assessed in order to gain access to the reward or prize. The communication between the broadcasting body and the contestant is done by mail, telephone conversation, video conference provided that there is a presenter in all cases or a jury who assess the correct answers and award the prizes or rewards.

[0007] By means of the automated management of the mobile telephone text messages it is possible to take part in the different challenges that have been set, obtaining a quick response and without the need of a jury, producing a more flexible flow of questions and answers, just using a mobile telephone.

[0008] The use of mobile telephone text messages makes the system a universal method for any contest, just by changing the coding or format of the mobile telephone message and the contest parameters (participation rules, correct answers and prizes).

OBJECTIVE OF THE INVENTION

[0009] An automatic management system of mobile telephone text messages which comprises a telephone terminal, a computer and a suitable interface between the previous elements, aimed mainly at the leisure market. The computer has a contestant data base with the messages received and sent and in turn executes a programme that controls the rules for participating, the format of the message to be sent, the validation key codes for the answers and the prizes or rewards to be shared out makes it a highly iterative system in which the participant can receive a quick answer.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION.

[0010] The management system of mobile telephone text messages is composed of a mobile telephone terminal which must be capable of receiving text messages, preferably the SMS (Short Message System), although any other text messenger service can be used, a computer containing a data base and which executes a programme controlling the rules of participation, the format of the message to be sent, the validation key codes for the answers and the prizes or rewards to be shared out and a suitable interface between the computer and the telephone terminal. The management system sends a reply message through the telephone terminal using the same medium as the message received.

[0011] First of all, the broadcasting company sets questions through the medium reaching a broad sector of the population. The people who want to take part send their reply in mobile telephone text message form to a specified telephone number. The management system sets up the communication with the telephonic terminal using the interface. The telephone terminal receives the messages in date and arrival time order, respecting the priority of the dispatch, differentiating them by the transmitter station telephone number and registering them in a data base. The computer assesses the content of the message and contrasts the possible correct answers, which have been defined by the broadcasting medium. The correct messages can opt for prizes and the system answers them using a telephone text message.

[0012] The interface of the telephone message call management system can be, preferably, a MODEM or Data Card and uses a related data base for registering the data. The data bases can be any that are capable of taking ODBC and OLE (Access, SQL server, FoxPro, etc.), storing the messages received and sent in the data base and taking into account:

• Telephone number of the message transmitter.
• Date and arrival time.
• Message data.
• Coding and message format.

[0013] The computer programme that executes the system is composed of:

• The rules of participation.
• The message format to be sent.
• The answer validation keys and/or codes.
• Correct replies.
• Prizes and rewards.

[0014] The computer programme can be developed in any operating system, the Microsoft Windows system (95, 98 NT and later versions) being preferred, using components of the Visual C++ and Visual Basic because of its more widespread use.

[0015] The invention is described below with the help of different examples which do not restrict the scope of the same.

[0016] Example 1. It describes the flow chart of the system containing the procedure of the management of mobile telephone message texts.

1. Start the modem of the mobile telephone terminal and execute AT commands.

2. Read the data base parameters.

3. Loop in order to understand the arrival of the new SMS message at the terminal.

4. Check the validity of the SMS (length, telephone number, etc.).

5. If the SMS is valid, it checks whether the data coincides with the pre-defined answers.

6. Immediate reply by the same route to the client/contestant with a code if entitled to a product/prize.

[0017] Example 2. It describes the files contained in the computer programme of the mobile telephone texts management system. The computer programme contains the following files:

• Dialer.frm
• Dialer.frx
• FrProgram.frm
• FrProgram.frx
• Modulel.bas
• De.dsr
• Dialer.vpp

Claims

1. A system for the management, reception, evaluation and response of mobile telephone text messages for assessing contests, characterised in that it contains:

a) a telephone terminal capable of receiving and transmitting mobile telephone text messages.

b) A computer containing a data base of calls received and transmitted and which executes a programme that assesses the correct replies using the answer coding, the format of the messages and the prizes.

c) An interface between the telephone terminal and the computer.